Cheryl’s Excellent Life
1962-2025
Cheryl VanRaden completed her excellent life September 10,
2025 at age 63. She was born June 20, 1962 and raised well by Dora Brice of
Baltimore, MD and Thomas Pettiford (deceased) together with her brother Thomas
Pettiford, Jr. and sister Annette Brown. Cheryl Pettiford graduated from
Patterson High School one year early by skipping 10th grade because
she already knew those answers ahead of her time.
In her 1979 yearbook, her many high school friends told her:
“You’ve been so nice and your voice is wonderful. I’ll keep a place in my heart
just for you.” “A crazy and fun friend I enjoyed being around. You’ll always be
a friend of mine.” “A neat and crazy friend of mine that I won’t forget.” “A
very Beautiful and charming young lady that I love so dear.” “To a very nice
person, stay as you are and we will always be friends.” “You’re a sweet girl
with a nice personality. Stay that way.” “A sweet lady that I will always
remember.” “I must say you are a very nice person. Probably to me you are a numero uno person. Keep cool and sweet as you are.” “You
are one of the nicest and friendliest people I have ever known.” “You are
crazy, period. No, but you are a good friend to have.” “You’ve been a very nice
and crazy friend. I wish I’d known you longer than 1 year.” “I’m so glad we
met. Now I don’t try to make my voice deeper anymore because I know I’m not the
only one!” "It was really fun knowing you and talking to you… I will never
forget you because of that ‘voice’ !” “A very special friend that I will always
remember for the nice time we had in New York.” “But when you rise to the top
don’t forget that you are unique and one of a kind. Stay that way, don’t
change, and you will make it, I know you will.”
Cheryl worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in
Washington, DC for 5 years as an Administrative Assistant and received an
Exceptional Performance Award. Cheryl then worked for the U.S. National
Security Agency, Fort Meade, MD for 7 years on government contracts held by
General Electric / Martin Marrietta Corp and received a Lighting Award from GE.
Cheryl then worked for Johns Hopkins Medical Services in Annapolis, MD, for the
State of Maryland also in Annapolis, for Anne Arundel County, Bowie, MD in
administrative services, and more recently for Lowes near Orlando, FL. In
earlier years Cheryl took her family to Florida and in recent years the family
came to Florida to see grandma (YaYa).
Cheryl shared her nice eyes and kind mind with two mighty
fine daughters, Charlee and Angel, that she raised. Each day, they display
Cheryl’s style while I’ll smile mile by mile. Charlee Jackson of Middle River,
MD provided 5 wonderful grandchildren: Elexys Smith, Samira Biggus, Bige
Chambers, Jr, Brandon Chambers, and Jeremiah Jackson. In June 2025, Angel
VanRaden (now Morel) married Cesar Morel in a fun wedding near Palm Beach, FL with many
friends and family attending. Angel and Cesar began married life by exploring
Europe.
Cheryl married Dr. Paul VanRaden and they began exploring the
world together in 1995. Paul worked as a Research Geneticist in the US
Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD for 37 years and retired as a Hall of
Fame scientist in May, 2025. On May 18, Paul and Cheryl celebrated 30 years of
marriage.
Cheryl enjoyed life and travel until complications from
diabetes and a severe infection ended her excellent life. Cheryl was the head
of our family, did most of the communication and planning for our family trips,
and was looking forward to more adventures. She wanted to return to Singapore
which we visited 30 years ago. The pictures below of Cheryl or that she took of
her family show how she lived and improved the lives of those she met. Also a
little audio helps remember her voice, plus some of a daughter and
granddaughter. Most photo sets below were posted by September 2025 but several
were later expanded and other displays such as the age series for Angel were
posted in 2026 as reminders of our many nice times together:
Early
Photos 1965-1994
Photos
With Paul 1994-2024
Little Wedding, Big Honeymoon: Asia 1995 photos
Recent
Vacations 2016-2026
Family Vacations2 2003-2011
Charlee, Cheryl and family 1984-present
Charlee’s Kids + Angel part1 1999-2003 part2 2004-present
Angel photos Newborn Age1
Age 2-3 Age 4-7 Age
8+
Port Discovery with Angel, Elexys, and Samira 2001-4
Cheryl,
Angel, Elexys audio 2005-2020 phone
voices
Cheryl did
not talk about herself much but that will not stop us from saying nice things
about her. Cheryl’s family and friends and I miss her very much.
Paul VanRaden
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